Soulful southern instrumentation lives and breathes in Big K.R.I.T.’s studio. This album is an overwhelming breath of fresh air as soon as the record bangs in your car or fills up the room. Krizzle’s honesty mixed with his aggressive MC approach makes this project hard to ignore. Every song is either deep, a bass slapper or both.

4. Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo

Fans speculated if the Tennessee rapper could musically hang with Top Dawg Entertainment, arguably hip-hop’s hottest crew. This album makes it clear that Isaiah Rashad is a standout individual and a comrade to Black Hippy. The project carries 14 songs of a very unorthodox and eerie southern sound. You can’t tell if a particular album cut is extremely sad or happy due to it’s polarizing dimensions.

3. J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive

The Dreamville artist hinted this would be his most personal album to date, and his fans can agree. J. Cole welcomes listeners to childhood struggles, teenage love, inner turmoil and most of all honesty. This album re-introduces the definition of keeping it real and proves that Cole is in his own lane.

ay in the life audio documentary is this year’s most standout concept album. YG gets jumped into a gang, commits home invasions, parties with the crew and faces all of its repercussions. This record ultimately shows that with a millennium touch, the west coast’s classic ’90s sound will work in today’s climate.

1. Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron

Grimy, brash, gang-affiliated raps make this hip-hop’s best album of 2014. If the stench of broken crack pipes, gun smoke and the best L.A. weed magically produced sound, it would be the 12 songs on this record. ScHoolboy Q proves that gangsta rap can’t die, just evolves.